


Summer Snow

by bicroft



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Wishbabies, cup magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 14:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14059182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicroft/pseuds/bicroft
Summary: “There’s old fairy tale, in Russia,” Zhenya said. “About old couple who can’t have kid, but want very badly.”“We’re not that old, G.” Sid said, wrinkling his nose.(It snows on Zhenya's Cup Day.)





	Summer Snow

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be done over a month ago, but! oh well, here she is now.

 It snows on Zhenya’s Cup day.

He isn’t sure if that’s a good omen, or a bad one, but it’s definitely some kind of sign; usually, Moscow doesn’t get snow after the first few weeks or April, or again until October, but the conditions are just right enough for a little flurry to be blowing through as he on the tarmac for the Cup to arrive, and bring the beginning of the festivities with it.

He’s snapped a picture of the snow sticking to his hat and sent it to Sid, but, Sid didn’t respond; not entirely surprising, because of the time difference, but a little surprising, because it wasn’t _super_ early, Sid’s time, and Sid usually didn’t wake up super late. Then again, it had been _his_ Cup day, yesterday, so he couldn’t entirely blame him if he had slept in a little later that day.

The plane comes in not long after, and it’s _immediately_ evident why Sid isn’t answering Zhenya’s messages when the man himself steps off the plane two seconds after the Cup bearer. Zhenya can’t help but laugh when he sees him, forgoing the Cup for a moment to instead step out and hug him. It’s their goal hug, their ‘there are cameras on us right now, so we’re just best friends’-hug, but Zhenya’s already started to miss Sid terribly in the few weeks they’d been apart, so any kind of contact was welcome. “You’re not tell me you’re come,” he said when he pulled back, not even bothering to hide the adoration in his gaze. “Sneaky, Sid, try to get an extra day with the Cup. Steal my show.”

“Sorry,” Sid said, not sounding it in the slightest, and grinning like they’d won all over again. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Is,” Zhenya said, patting him on the shoulder and pulling away entirely before he lost his mind and kissed his boyfriend on the tarmac for the whole world to see. “Very good surprise, Sid, I’m most surprised.”

And, it is a very good surprise; having Sid with him felt _right_ , like how Zhenya wanted to live the rest of his life. They hadn’t been dating for long- it was only barely a year, at this point- but, Zhenya already knew that Sid was probably (definitely) The One, capital letters and all, and he had a good feeling that Sid felt the same way. But, it was always tricky, bringing up the future when your present was shaky enough. One misstep, one stray kiss close to a flashbulb, and their entire lives could be ruined, and that kind of thinking wasn’t the most conductive to talking about weddings and families.

Which is why he was _really_ caught off guard when they were sitting in Zhenya’s living room later that night, curled up together on the couch with the Stanley Cup sitting on the rug in front of them, quietly watching the snow continue to fall and Sid whispered, “Do you ever think about having kids?”

“All the time,” Zhenya said, because even if he was surprised, he wasn’t going to _lie_. “Do you?”

“Sometimes,” Sid said. He was still whispering, and he still staring out the window at the snow, not looking at Zhenya. “A lot, today, and looking at the other guys’ Cup pictures.”

“You want to put baby in the Cup, Sid?” Zhenya said, smiling and resting his chin on Sid’s shoulder.

Sid shrugged, but didn’t dislodge him, finally looking up. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I really do. I wish we could have that- I _want_ us to have that.”

The _us_ was the part of the sentence that made Zhenya’s breath hitch, and he couldn’t just _not_ kiss Sid after that. When he pulls away, smiling like the lovesick idiot he is, the snow outside catches his eye again. There isn’t a lot; it’s not _that_ cold, or raining that hard, but, there’s enough for an idea to hit him. “There’s old fairy tale, in Russia,” he said. “About old couple who can’t have kid, but want very badly.”

“We’re not _that_ old, G.” Sid said, wrinkling his nose.

“Isn’t point, let me finish,” Zhenya huffed, thumping him on the shoulder. “Point is- they love each other very much, and want family. One day, is snowing, and they’re see little kids outside making snow woman. And, they’re say ‘should make snow girl for us, have fun.’ And, when they make snow girl- she’s come to life, and they have daughter.”

“That’s sweet,” Sid said.

“We’re can do,” Zhenya said. “Have snow, go outside. Make snow maiden.”

Sid laughed. “Dunno if there’s enough snow for a snowman, G.”

“Snow _maiden_ , Sid,” Zhenya said. “And, no, but- enough for snow angels?”

Sid laughed again, but when he was done, he huffed and said, “Fuck it, yeah. Let’s go make snow angels.”

They weren’t the most perfect things, but, he and Sid both managed a decent looking snow angel, and Zhenya snapped a picture of them to post to Instagram later. “Our Snow Maidens,” he said to Sid when they were done, maybe a little too attached to something that was two dimensional, and going to melt before the night was over.

“You’re so fucking _weird_ ,” Sid said, which was the pot calling the kettle black, but Zhenya was nice enough to just kiss him instead of pointing it out.

“You’re bad a being romantic,” he said instead.

Sid made an indignant noise in reply. “I’ll show _you_ romantic,” he said, and Zhenya was also nice enough not to point out that that proved his point as Sid dragged him back inside and started proving him wrong.

When Zhenya woke up the next morning, Sid wasn’t with him, which made him a little sad, but wasn’t surprising. Sid was always an earlier riser than he was.

What was surprising, though, was finding Sid standing in the middle of the hallway when he rolled out of bed, stock still. “You okay?” Zhenya asked, and Sid whipped around in a moment, shushing him. “ _What?_ What I’m do?”

“There’s- they’re sleeping,” Sid said, pointing out at something in the living room, which only made Zhenya frown more until he stepped around Sid and saw what he was pointing out.

The Cup was still sitting in the living room, but, laying down at the foot of it, sleeping soundly, were two little girls in fancy, snow patterned dresses. Zhenya’s eyes went wide, and when he turned back around to look at Sid, all he was doing was staring helplessly. “I got up to make you tea or something, at they were just- there,” he whisper-shouted. “I don’t know how they got _in_ ; I checked, and your door was still locked- the fucking _gate in front of your house_ was still locked, and there’s no _way_ that they could have climbed the fence.”

“What the _fuck_?” Zhenya whispered, because that the hell else _was_ there to whisper.

“I don’t know what to _do_!” Sid said, and Zhenya could tell that he was probably about two seconds from a full on pacing and panicking breakdown. “Do we call the cops? Do we wake them up?”

“Breathe first,” he said. “We- they probably Russian, so. Better if I’m talk to, yes? And, if… run away from home, or something, they probably hungry- so, you’re can go make breakfast?”

Sid could probably tell that he was just trying to give him something else to focus on, but he was the kind of person who liked being given tasks, so, all he did was take a deep breath and nod. “Right,” he said. “Right, I can do that. Breakfast.”

Zhenya pressed a kiss to his cheek as Sid passed, mostly to calm his own nerves before the turned back to the _strange children asleep on his floor,_ holy _shit_. The Cup people were going to be there in maybe an hour or two to take it back, and there were _strange children on his floor_.

After a second or two more of staring, Zhenya crouched down to the girl’s level, tapping one of them on the shoulder gentle. “Excuse me,” he said in quiet Russian, clearing his throat.

The girl blinked and yawned, smiling at Zhenya when she opened her eyes. “Oh,” she said, nudging the other girl- her… sister? They looked a little similar- “Wake up, Papa’s here.”

Zhenya’s brain short circuited. “I- who?”

The girl giggled. “ _You_. Good morning, Papa.”

“I’m not- I _can’t_ \- where did you _come_ from?” Zhenya asked, trying to think back to a time in the past- how old were these girls? Five, six?- however many years that could have made this possible. None came to mind.

“Uh, G? I can’t find your eggs.”

Sid poked his head out from the kitchen, and immediately the girl who had been sleeping sat up and looked at him. “ _Daddy!_ ” she crowed, shooting to her feet and running over to hug Sid’s legs.

“I don’t think-” Sid said, sounding lost and looking at Zhenya with wide eyes.

Zhenya shrugged at him, and then looked down at where the other girl had stood from. Where she’d been laying, there seemed to be white outline, and when he reached out to touch it, his hand came away cold, and wet.

 _Oh._ Fuck.

“Snow angels,” Zhenya blurted. “ _Sid._ Our snow angels.”

“What about them?” Sid asked, and when Zhenya wildly gestured at the two girls, his eyes went even wider. “ _Geno_. That’s not- is that possible?”

“Is- Cup? Weird things happen, with Cup,” Zhenya said, thinking back to last night. _I wish we could have that_ , Sid had said. _Wish_ ; wishing, around the Cup, was a dangerous thing to do, and everyone in the league knew that. It wasn’t talked about in anything above a whisper, though, what happened if you _did_ make a wish around it, so Zhenya wasn’t entirely sure if turning snow angels into little girls was within Lord Stanley’s capabilities.

“Right,” Sid said, looking down at the girl that was still hanging onto his legs, smiling up at him. “Are you- what’s your name?”

“Angelina,” the girl chirped happily.

“And your- sister?” Sid asked.

“Natalya,” the other girl said, standing up herself.

“Awesome,” Sid said, sounding dazed. “Right. I’m- I’m gonna make pancakes.”

“ _Pancakes!_ ” Both of the girls seemed excited by the idea, Natalya shooting to her feet to go hug Sid’s legs, too. As surreal as this all felt, it made something warm bloom in Zhenya’s chest.

“Call Mario,” Sid mouthed over the girls’ heads, as they both tugged him into the kitchen. “ _Please_.”

Zhenya nodded, and all but dove for the phone when they were out of sight.

* * *

Mario wasn’t happy to be woken up at what must’ve still been the middle of the night in Pittsburgh, but, he was more than willing to listen to Zhenya babble out his story. “What do we do?” he asked once he was done.

“This is… probably why you’re supposed to be careful with your words, around the Cup,” Mario said, humming. “I’ve never heard of _kids_ coming out of it, though- a lot of other, weird stuff, but. Not kids.”

“Snow maidens are… _fairy tale_ , though, and not have to do with Stanley Cup,” Zhenya said.

“Fairy tales have to come from somewhere, Geno,” Mario pointed out, and it was too early in the fucking day for Zhenya to start thinking about whether or not fairy tales were real life. “We’ll sort out the story on this end, if you keep us updated- but, what happens from here is, ultimately, up to you and Sid. Having kids is… it’s not something to be taken lightly, and I can’t sit here to tell you how to handle _surprise_ kids.”

“I’m understand,” Zhenya said, trying not to sound disappointed. He knew Mario wasn’t the endlessly wise old veteran he’d thought him to be when he was eighteen, but, he had hoped to get a little bit more help than ‘yeah, it happened, what now?’ “I’m let you go back to sleep, now. Thanks.”

“Keep me updated,” Mario said.

After he hung up, Zhenya sat there staring at his phone for a full half minute before he was drawn out of his stupor by the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.

When he walked over and poked his head in, he was almost immediately hit in the face by flour, and when he wiped that off of his face, he was greeted by the sight of Sid and the two girls laughing at him, similarly covered. “We- sort of made a mess,” Sid said, flushed and grinning, and _god,_ did Zhenya love this man.

“ _Awful_ role model, Sid,” Zhenya said, never able to resist a chirp. “Supposed to be making pancakes.”

“Oh, fu- I mean. Shove off, G.” Sid flushed even darker, throwing another handful of at flour at him, making Zhenya laugh and splutter.

“Is _on,_ now,” Zhenya said, lurching forward to grab his own handful of flour to toss at Sid, making the girls shriek with joy.

They did actually make pancakes, eventually, and ate them with dots of flour still on their faces, smiling around Zhenya’s dining room table. It was _amazing_ , getting to sit down with Sid, and- well, and a _family_ , he guessed; their family. When he actually got time to study their faces, it was easy to see parts of him and Sid in their faces. Natalya had his nose, and Sid’s hazel eyes, and Angelina had Sid’s ears, and Zhenya’s sleepy eyes. These were their girls, no doubt about it.

“What did Mario say?” Sid asked as they were cleaning up the dishes, the girls chattering back and forth in the living room in alternating Russian and English.

“Said can happen, with Cup; weird magic, is why people so careful not to make big wishes around it,” Zhenya said. “And- said is up to us, next. Is… big thing, be parents.”

“I didn’t think I was going to be for- geeze, G. Maybe another five years, at least.” Sid sighed, running a hand through his hair. “When I thought about it, I thought we were going to… retire, and then maybe settle down somewhere, and… adopt, or something, in a few years, once everything was quiet, and we could just live our lives.”

“Always going to be messier than that, Sid,” Zhenya said. “But- is what I’m think, too. What I’m dream about.”

Sid sighed again, looking out to the living room at where the girls were sitting on the floor. “Cup magic is… weird, you’re right,” he said. “But. It doesn’t… it never gives you something you don’t really _want,_ G. I _want_ this, for us.”

“I want, too,” Zhenya said, reaching out and taking his hand. “Not saying I don’t want, Sid. All I’m saying is, this is… big deal. Career changing, _life_ changing. Going to be very hard to- to hide us, if we have little girls go around calling you ‘dad’ and me ‘papa.’”

“I know,” Sid said, voice quiet, just like it had been last night when he was making his wish. “I know.”

Zhenya frowned for a second- not upset, just thinking. “Remember what I’m say last night,” he said eventually, his own voice quiet, now. “About couple, and Snow Maiden?”

“They were old,” Sid said, huffing a little laugh.

“That they love each other very much,” Zhenya said, squeezing his hand. “They love each other so much, want _family_ so much, to share with each other, share love, that they- they _made_ her, with their love. They-” He gestured out at the girls. “They… we made them. You wish, and we love each other. Is why they here.”

“I love them,” Sid said. He sounded almost _broken_ , and when he looked up at Zhenya, his eyes were a little watery. “G, I really do. They’re- amazing.”

“They not going anywhere, Sid; no one is going to try to take away,” Zhenya said, pulling him to his chest. “We- we make work, yes? Make whatever calls we have to, do what we have to do. For family.”

“For _our_ family,” Sid said, voice muffled where he was pressing his face into Zhenya’s chest. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Zhenya said, pressing a kiss to his forehead before pulling back. “Cup people be here, soon.”

“Right,” Sid said, squeezing Zhenya’s waist for a moment before he stepped back, wiping his eyes. “Right. I’ve- I should probably call Pat, and Jen. And my _parents_ , geez.”

“I’m call mine, later,” Zhenya said. “Lots of calls.”

“And, we’re gonna have to go shopping,” Sid said, pacing now, already in captain mode, planning. “Make rooms for them- a room? Do you think they’d want to share a room?”

“We ask,” Zhenya said. “Handle later, Sid, deep breath.”

“I’m a _dad_ , G,” Sid said, sounding excited and dazed at once. “I’ve gotta step up my game.”

“Already best game, _breathe,_ ” Zhenya huffed. “One step at a time.”

“One step at a time,” Sid said, frowning a little. “Right, okay- calls, and then, maybe, a shopping trip.”

“Good plan,” Zhenya said. “I’m finish clean, you go call.”

* * *

 

There were a _lot_ of calls to make, after the Cup people had come and went, and luckily for Zhenya, his parents were much more excited than upset when he told them that they’d suddenly acquired two magical granddaughters, driving over almost immediately. “They’re _gorgeous,_ Zhenya,” his mama cooed, the girls already hanging onto her legs.

“I know how much you wanted more grandchildren to spoil,” Zhenya said, shrugging. Sid had moved off to some remote corner of the house to make his phone calls, and he hadn’t come back yet, which worried him a little bit- but, then again, there had been _a lot_ of calls to make, and a lot to explain in them.

He did duck out for a little bit while his parents were getting to know the girls, though, and poked his head into random rooms until he caught Sid’s voice coming out of one of the spare bedrooms. “- Don’t know, dad.” He sounded exasperated, and a little exhausted. “I don’t know, okay? I just know that… I love him, and we can’t just- they’re _our_ kids. And this is the life I want, no matter what it takes.”

Zhenya hung outside the doorway, barely breathing while Sid fell silent, listening to his father on the other line. “They’re amazing,” he said, and that’s his soft, loving voice again, and the knot in Zhenya’s chest loosens. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll see if I can come back before the season starts and introduce you guys after we get everything sorted out. Yeah. Bye, Dad.”

Zhenya waited a few seconds before knocking on the doorframe, and stepping in. “Everything go okay?”

“Yeah,” Sid sighed, immediately moving over to draw Zhenya into his arms. “Jen and Pat were… surprised, but understanding, and they’re already working on the press stuff. And my parents were… well. Also surprised.”

“After everything is handle, we go home,” Zhenya said. “Pittsburgh- or, Cole Harbour for little bit, meet your parents, Taylor.”

“That’d be amazing,” Sid said, smiling up at Zhenya for a moment before it melted into a frown. “G, I know this is… if we’re public about this, it isn’t going to be… it isn’t going to be good, for you. And, there really isn’t too much of a way for us _not_ to be public about it.”

“I’m know,” Zhenya said. He’d been trying not to think about it all morning, but, it was pretty unavoidable if they were going to be moving forward. “Is… is something I’m know when I’m start this, Sid, and I’m not do if I’m not- not _okay_ with, but. Is worth whatever happens, to be with you.”

“You’re sure?” Sid asked, brow furrowed.

Zhenya pressed a kiss to his forehead, trying to smooth the wrinkles away. “Never been more sure about anything,” Zhenya said. “Come on- we’re leave girls with my parents too long, and they start thinking we’re not their favorites.”

“God forbid,” Sid snorted, pulling back. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 

It’s- a process, but, they make it work.

Zhenya essentially had to get a crash course in parenting, spending every second with the girls he can in between training and making arrangements. It’s as amazing as it is exhausting, and soon enough, they slot into his life just as easily as if they’d been there for all the years they’d grown.

Having Sid there probably helped, when the worst of the headaches came around; they were both learning, and when Zhenya wasn’t the most patient, or Sid got frustrated, they were both there to pick each other up and push through, and Zhenya didn’t know if he’d ever been happier in his life. Even the fact that what people said about having less sex after becoming parents was true couldn’t bring down his spirits- though, he and Sid still managed to sneak in a few moments here and there, when they weren’t too tired, and the girls had gone to bed.

It was in the afterglow of one of these moments, laying tangled up and sweating in Zhenya’s bed, when Sid surprised him yet a-fucking-gain.

“We should get married,” he said, voice soft, but entirely determined.

Zhenya blinked, brain still a little blown out from moments before. “Was that good?”

“No,” Sid said, and then paused. “Well, yes, but that isn’t why I’m saying we should get married. There’s- it’d be easier, legally, to sort of… say we’ve been together, and married, and adopted the girls, rather than just say ‘yeah, we acquired them magically because I opened my dumb mouth and a Russian fairy tale came true.’”

“Your mouth isn’t dumb,” Zhenya said, pressing a kiss on it to prove his point, and then humming. “I was right.”

Sid wrinkled his nose. “Right about what?”

“Worst at romance,” Zhenya said. “You’re propose to me, no ring, no speech. Just sex, and then ‘Geno, we should have wedding.’”

“I’m not _proposing_ ,” Sid huffed, swatting his arm. “I’m… pre-proposing. Preparing to propose, just… making sure you’d be on board with it.”

“You’re love of my life, Sid; I tell you this every day,” Zhenya said, rolling his eyes. “Of course I want to marry you. Marry you in second, right now, if you had ring.”

“Who says I don’t have a ring?” Sid said. “And, I doubt we could find someone ordained in _Russia_ who’d marry us, G.”

Zhenya frowned, but, he did have a point. “When we’re go back to Canada, then,” Geno said. “To see your parents. My parents come over, too, call some guys. We have wedding then.”

Sid’s eyes went wide. “A _wedding_ ,” he said. “G, I… I don’t know that a month and a half is any time for planning a whole _wedding_.”

“We make it work,” Zhenya said, pressing a kiss to Sid’s forehead. “Small wedding, promise. Me and you, we’re best at planning, work together, and neither of us need fancy dress or anything, so, is easy. Hardest parts over.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s like- color swatching, and cake tasting supposed to happen, somewhere in there,” Sid said, still sounding unconvinced.

“Everything Penguins colors, and we have cheesecake. Done,” Zhenya said. “Have by lake at your house, just rent fancy things we’re need, and find someone who can do wedding part. Easy.”

“Easy,” Sid echoed, finally cracking a smile. “Okay, yeah.”

“After you’re give me ring, obviously,” Zhenya said. “I’m want _real_ proposal, Sid. Good story to tell our little girls.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sid laughed, pressing a few kisses across Zhenya’s face. “I’ll make it happen, G, don’t worry. I always have a plan.”

* * *

 

It was really only a matter of time before they tried getting the girls on the ice. They waited almost a month, just to be safe, but after that it felt _wrong_ not to.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were half-Zhenya, and half-Sid, or maybe it was just that they’d come from snow in the first place, but both of the girls were naturals. Or, better than naturals; the second they had skates on, they took off, chasing each other across the ice unaided.

Zhenya wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Sid look prouder of anything or anyone in his whole life. “Do you think they’d want to play hockey?” he whispered, watching Angelina turn circles around Natalya, and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh.

“We ask them, later,” he said, putting an arm around Sid’s shoulder. “But- our kids, so. Probably yes?”

“I hope so,” Sid said, and by then, the girls had made their ways back around to them, grabbing onto their legs.

“ _Dad,_ ” Natalya whined, in the same second Angelina drew out a “ _pa-pa!”_ “Play tag with us!”

And, well- there was no way they could say no to _that_ , so they didn’t. Playing with kids was the only time Zhenya thought he’d ever seen Sid _lose_ a game, on purpose or otherwise, and he got distracted by how sweet it was more than a few times.

“G.”

He’d zoned out for a few seconds and lost sight of Sid, so hearing him directly behind him nearly made him fall on his ass. He swilled on his skates and turned around, confused for a moment when he didn’t find Sid at the eye level he normally did.

And then he looked down, and Sid was down on one knee, looking expectantly up at him.

There was a ring box in his hand.

Zhenya blinked once. Twice.

“Are you…?” Sid asked, frowning.

“You’re not propose yet,” Zhenya said, somewhat distant, but definitely meaning it. “I’m say want real proposal, Sid.”

Sid giggled. “Of course,” he said. “Geno, you’re- I should’ve. Written this down, but I didn’t, so you’re going to have to bear with me.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t used to think a lot about what I wanted to do after hockey, because it was- terrifying. I’d never really wanted anything _except_ hockey, and I… I didn’t think there was anything else out there I could love even half as much as I love playing. And then… and then, I met you, and even before we started dating, you were- you were probably- no, you were _definitely_ the best thing in my life. And, when I realized that I loved you just as much- if not, well… _more_ than I love hockey, then I just… I started looking forward to what came after. I started thinking, and all I could think was that I didn’t want a second of whatever came after to be without you.”

“ _Sid_ ,” Zhenya said, trying his best not to cry. At this point, Natalya and Angelina had both skated over and were looking at them with wide-eyed wonderment, holding onto each other.

“ _So_ ,” Sid said, clearing his throat and sounding a little choked up himself. “I know it’s- I know it’s going to be a mess, and I know things are going to get rough before they get better, but… if you’d… will you marry me, so we can go through them together?”

“ _Yes,_ ” Zhenya said, openly sobbing as he dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around Sid best he could and pressing kisses across his face. “Sid, _yes, yes, yes_.”

“You have to let me actually get the ring on you, Geno,” Sid said, laughing a bit, but also definitely crying.  

Zhenya didn’t really care much about the ring at this point, even if he knew he’d been the one to make a big deal about it. He let Sid put the ring on his finger anyway, and went right back to kissing him.

“Are you going to have a wedding?” Natalya asked once they both got themselves under control, and Zhenya hummed, sweeping her up in his arms and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“The best wedding ever,” he said. “Will be perfect.”

* * *

 

“Leave it to you two to literally give a _months’_ notice before your damned wedding,” was the first thing Flower said when Zhenya picked up the phone, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re get invitation, then?” he said.

Flower kept going like he hadn’t heard him. “You _assholes,_ you dance around each other for a goddamned decade, make me suffer through your sad looks and dumb flirting, wait until I _leave_ to start dating- and then, suddenly, you’re married with kids. How _dare you_.”

“You coming, yes or no?” Zhenya asked, mouthing ‘Flower’ to Sid who was sitting on the ground with the girls, intently focused on trying to get a braid in Natalya’s hair right. Sid mouthed back ‘say hi for me,’ so, Zhenya did. “Sid say hi.”

“Tell him I’m gonna kick his ass if I’m not his best man,” Flower said, and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m serious! I earned that, and I have the most dirt for a speech.”

Zhenya hummed. “If he’s not pick you, I’m do, just for speech.”

“No, you won’t,” Sid called from where he was sitting.

“Will,” Zhenya whispered once Sid had turned away again.

“Counting on that, G,” Flower said. There was a pause for a few moments, Flower obviously debating whether he should say something else, before he spoke up again, tone more grave. “How’s your family?”

Zhenya frowned. “Is… is why we’re not send out invitations until just now,” he said. “Lots of work, get visas, get set up here with house, make sure everything safe for us by the time wedding happens.”

“And, is it?” Flower asked.

“Is… safe as is going to get,” Zhenya sighed. “Parents be okay here, Dennis and his family… not coming, but, going to be okay. Sid and the girls fine.”

Flower hummed. “And, you?”

Zhenya was quiet for a few moments. “I’m… going to be okay,” he said finally. “Going to be okay. I’m know that, one day, I’m going to… going to have to give up Russia, if this something I’m want to do, and… and is worth it. Gold medal would be nice, but… nicer, would be to get to spend rest of my life with people I love, happy.”

“That’s- yeah,” Flower said. “I hope it works out.”

“It will,” Zhenya said, looking up to smile at Sid and the girls again. Natalya and Angelina had both abandoned their patience for hair braiding, and were now trying to stick as many little dandelions and clovers into Sid’s hair as they could. The knot of fear that had formed in Zhenya’s stomach almost immediately dissipated. Anything that meant that they could have this was worth it.

“It will,” he said. “Already worked out.”

* * *

There isn’t much ceremony to Sid and Geno’s wedding.

It’s still gorgeous, saying their vows on Sid’s little dock as the sun sets over the lake, and everything still feels magical and like it couldn’t be happening, was too _good_ to be happening. Sid insisted that they at least buy new suits for the occasion, and Zhenya could barely tear his eyes away from the way Sid’s clung to his _everything_ just right at the tiny reception, tipsy on a little too much champagne.

Flower’s best man speech was just as uproarious as promised, and by the end of the evening, Zhenya was almost positive that there was nothing that could happen that could make this in any way better.

And then, Matt tapped him on the shoulder.

“My Cup day isn’t until tomorrow,” he said. “But- I kinda… convinced them to bring it out early, so you guys could- you know. Have some pictures.”

Sid looked like he was going to start crying for the third time that day, and Zhenya wasn’t far behind. “Thank you,” he said. “Is- thank you.”

Matt just shrugged, and smiled. “You guys deserve it,” he said. “Family pictures with the Cup and all that. I know we’re gonna get another one, but- I figured… why not now, too?”

The girls were too big to fit _in_ the Cup, but even just having them stand on either side of it, him and Sid behind them, holding hands where the camera couldn’t see, was amazing- and then, Zhenya remembered, it didn’t _matter_ if the cameras saw.

He waited until the cameraman steadied for another shot, and reeled Sid in for a kiss. The camera clicked.

“Framing that one,” he said when he pulled away, grinning.

Sid was bright red, glowing almost more than the lanterns that provided most of the light for the evening. “Yeah,” he said, on the edge of laughter. “Yeah, that’s—definitely going up somewhere.”

* * *

There were flurries in Pittsburgh on the night of their first game, when they pulled the banner up into the rafters, and Sid and Geno entered to uproarious applause.

Zhenya was probably imagining the fact that his jersey sat heavier on his shoulders; the only thing that had changed about it was the nameplate on the back, and a few extra letters shouldn’t have added that much weight.

“I still think we should’ve gone with Malkin-Crosby,” Sid had mumbled, looking over the changes when they walked into the locker room earlier that evening.

“Three years Superleague,” Zhenya said, pressing a kiss to his cheek just to hear Tanger say ‘get a _room_ , oh my god!’ “I’m go last, Sid, we talk about this.”

They watched the banner go up, and the crowd go wild, and Zhenya’s heart might’ve been about to burst with everything he was feeling. It had only really just started to hit him, that this was the beginning and the end of a new era.

He didn’t get much time to process the feelings before the game started, and his heart rate didn’t settle until they were putting the girls to bed, and Sid turned to him as they turned out the lights. “I think we should have another.”

Zhenya hummed, drawing him in by his waist. “Kid, or Cup?”

“Both,” Sid said.

“If we do your way, have to have one to have the other,” Zhenya teased, and Sid rolled his eyes.

“I was thinking we could adopt this time,” he said. “But- I would like another Cup, too.”

Zhenya pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “We see. Work on it.”

Snow was still falling as Zhenya closed the blinds and climbed into bed, Sid immediately curling in to throw an arm around his waist.

He closed his eyes, and everything settled.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @sidsknees on tumblr!!!!


End file.
